Berlin - Sunday

I decided to go to a concert by the Berlin Camerata Vocale on Sunday afternoon. It was in the large hall at the Philharmonie, and quite an interesting hall it is, but much too large for the choir. There were about sixty and they performed the Duruflé Requiem and a Dvorák mass with organ accompaniment.

The vocal tone of the group was lovely but there was no oomph, no snap, no crackle and definitely no pop. In the Duruflé the baritone solos were sung by what seemed to be a collection of tenors and basses, though there was quite a nice alto whose low final requiems you could actually hear.

The Dvorák was slightly better, but it was all a bit too controlled. Perhaps it was the venue; there weren't really enough to fill what is really an orchestral hall.

But choristers are the same the world over: one old biddy with her head in the music madly turning pages trying to find her place (no, Tat, she was a soprano); a bass who kept lowering his music in one hand pretending he was a soloist; a blond tenor who kept looking off sideways while singing (Philip who?).

Afterwards I wandered back to Potsdamerplatz where, in the Sony centre, I found an Australian café where I had a glass of Fosters. They even had "chook" and tomato soup (not Tomatensuppe) on the menu.